Taking Flight

May 26, 2020 | By Jen Higgins-Newman, BHFH Program Manager

Hi All, 

This weekend, Beacon Hill Friends House held its annual Spring Retreat, amidst the unusual circumstances we are all experiencing. 

Our theme was “vacation,” and we took it as an opportunity to play together. 

On Friday night, the Meeting Room became an airline gate, where we escorted people onto the “plane” in the courtyard. A recorded airline video with a cockpit in the background with a house resident saying “Welcome to Quake-Air Lines” boomed over the speakers. Some residents joined us from their rooms and from afar on Zoom. 

Flight attendants from the retreat committee handed people Biscoff cookies wrapped in napkins with airplanes on them. Dinner was tiny cans of Polar soda and seltzer, and square plates of BBQ chicken or tofu, macaroni and cheese, and veggies. Dessert was Trix yogurt and individual packages of cookies. We watched the Disney movie Up together as part of the in-flight entertainment.  

Saturday, the Parlor was the SPA-rlor — with soothing music, aromatherapy, quiet voices, and individual face masks. In the afternoon, we held a “beach party” in the courtyard and Meeting Room with BBQ, fancy mocktails with tiny umbrellas, and kinetic sand. 

Most importantly, we laughed, we rested, and we played together. 

I believe that play is a spiritual practice, and it feels especially important to me now. It allows us to release some of the everyday thoughts and burdens we carry, making room for us to tap into different parts of ourselves.

This retreat was certainly different from others I have been a part of — but it achieved the same goal of cultivating our community and helping us connect in new ways. 

In Light and community,
Jen

Photos: (Left) The Quake-Air Lines sign created from the Quaker Oats logo, designed by Ryan Higgins-Newman. (Right, top) The airline tickets we customized for each resident. (Right, bottom) The courtyard airplane.